We plan to undertake studies in the following areas: 1) The mechanism of biosynthesis of unusual sugars found in some polysaccharides, specifically the 3,6-dideoxyhexoses found in the lipopolysaccharides of some bacteria and the muramic lactam found in the peptidoglycan of spore cell walls. 2) Lipids identified as isoprenoid alcohol phosphates have been implicated in the biosynthesis of bacterial cell walls. We wish to investigate the possibility that similar lipid intermediates may occur in the biosynthesis of complex polysaccharides in plants, animals, and fungi. 3) The structure of the tRNA involved in bacterial cell wall synthesis.